Apparatus for separating rolled material into pieces



y 1, 1969 J. L. VAN ENGELAND ET AL 3,453,046

APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING ROLLED MATERIAL INTO PIECES Filed Dec. 27, 1965 Sheet of e wvmrons JOZE'F LEONARD VAN E/VGELAND ALBERT PAUL WOUTERS July 1, 1969 J. L. VAN ENGELAND ET AL 3,453,045 APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING ROLLED MATERIAL INTO PIECES Filed Dec. 27, 1965 Sheet 2 01'6- FIG. 2

FIG. 3

'INVENTORS JOZEF LEONARD VAN ENGELAND 'ALBERT PA UL WOUTERS WATSON. COLE, GR/NDLE & WATSON ATTORNEYS Jilly 1, 1 J. VAN ENGELAND'ETAL 3,453,046

APPARATUS FOR SEPARATINC ROLLED MATERIAL INTO PIECES Filed Dec.

Sheet AK /i lNVENTO/PS JOZEF LEONARD VAN E/VGELAND ALBERT PAUL WOUTERS July- 1, 1969.

J. L. V AN ENGELAND ET L APPARATUS FOR SEPA RATING ROLLED MATERIAL INTO PIECES Filed-Dec. 27. 1965 Sheet 4 of6 FIG. 5

INVENTORS JOZEF LEONARD VAN ENGELAND ALBERT PAUL WOUTERS WA TSON, COLE, GRINDLE & WATSON ATTORNEYS Filed Dec. 27, 1965 July 1, 1969 J, VAN ENGELAND ET AL 3,453,046

APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING ROLLED MATERIAL INTO PIECES Sheet 6 are INVENTE'RS APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING ROLLED MATERIAL INTO PIECES I J. L. VAN ENGELAND ET AL Sheet FiledDec. 27; 1965 wvavrons JOZEF LEONA/P0 l/A/V ENGELAND ALBERT PAUL WOUTERS United States Patent 1 Int. Cl. G03g 15/10 US. Cl. 355-13 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A web feeding mechanism for photographic copying apparatus in which a supply roll of the web is at least partially, and optionally entirely, surrounded by a coaxial arcuately curved supporting surface having its leading edge terminating adjacent a pair of feed rollers, which rollers are capable of independent rotation about their own axes and of bodily translation about the web roll axis with said arcuate supporting surface, a mechanical drive being operative during the bodily translating movement of the feed rollers to rotate the same about their axes to positively withdraw a length of the web material from the web roll which length is received on the arcuate supporting surface. The mechanism includes a cutting device for severing the web length thus produced from the remainder of the web adjacent the feed rollers. The feed rollers and the supporting surface can be arranged to rotate in a circular path around the web roll with the feed roll drive being operative through only a portion of that path allowing an opportunity for electrostatic charging and exposure of the length of Web material to an image of the original to be copied while the web material is supported on the arcuate surface as such surface is translated through a further portion or portions of the circular path. The feed rate of the original to be copied through an exposure system can be synchronized with the rate of linear travel of the web length on the supporting surface so that an optical image of the original can be projected onto the web length while both the original and that length are moving in synchronlsm.

This invention relates to apparatus for separating rolled material into pieces of material of a required length or lengths.

The invention can be usefully applied in the packaging industry and'in the document copying field. (These are only examples of the potential uses of the invention.)

Constructions of apparatus capable of continuously separating rolled material into shorter pieces have already been proposed but for one reason or another these constructions are not appropriate for apparatus to be embodied in or used in conjunction with photographic or other document copying apparatus. It is an object of the invention to provide a construction of apparatus which is suitable for application in this way as well as in other ways.

Apparatus according to the invention comprises means for rotatably supporting a said roll about its axis, rollers which are bodily rotatable about such axis and which grip between them during such bodily rotation the free end of the material of the roll, means for rotating such rollers about their axes during their said bodily rotation thereby to cause material to be drawn from the roll, and cutting means operative after each of successive intervals of time during such rotations of the rollers so as each time to cut the material along a transverse line at a position between its then free outer end and the position at which the material is gripped by such rollers.

The rolled material remains gripped by the rollers at or near its free end, throughout the operation of separating the material into separate lengths. Preferably the cutting is performed at one or more fixed cutting stations past which the successive portions of material drawn off from the roll by the rollers are drawn in the course of the rotation of the said roll and rollers.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention the cutting is performed while the portion of the material to be cut oif is folded back so that the free end of the material is trailing the transverse zoneat which the cut is to be made. The cutting means then operates at a position such that it cannot impede the ongoing rotating motion of the rollers with the gripped fresh end of the rolled material and the necessity of this unimpeded motion does not place restriction on the design of the cutting mechanism and its operation or the design of guide means for guiding the severed length of material to a delivery point.

Preferably the successive portions of the rolled mate rial drawn off from the roll by the rollers are caused to fold back over a curved surface which is substantially concentric with the roll of material and rotates bodily therewith, and in the most preferred embodiments of the invention such curved surface is provided by a drum within which the material roll is mounted and which is provided with an exit slot, parallel with the drum axis, through which the rolled material is drawn by the rollers, these latter being located in the immediate vicinity of such, slot. The material emerging from the slot may be caused to lie flat against the outer surface of the drum, at least just prior to the severance of such portion from the roll, by one or more outer rollers co-operating with the drum surface and/ or by a fixed curved guide or guides spaced from the drum surface and substantially concentric therewith.

As an example of the application of the invention We refer to document copying processes in which sheets of material on which copies are to be made are fed to an exposure station for the formation of a visible or developable latent image, such material being, e.g., a positive, negative and/or reversal material. It is possible, as will hereafter be exemplified, for apparatus according to the invention and a copying apparatus to be combined so that the recording material is drawn from a roll by the bodily rotating rollers and the portions of the material successively withdrawn are exposed and if necessary also electrostatically charged before they are severed from the roll.

A very high capacity apparatus according to the invention can be realised by causing material withdrawn from the roll to be folded back over a drum enclosing the roll and by providing cutting stations at successive positions around the periphery of the drum for cutting two or more separate sheets from the roll during each rotation thereof.

Certain embodiments of the invention, selected by way of example, are illustrated in the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of one form of apparatus,

FIG. 2 is a detail of the apparatus in side elevation,

FIG. 3 is a front view of a detail of the mechanism for pulling off material from the roll,

FIG. 4 is a sectional elevation of a drum in which the rolled material is placed,

FIG. 5 shows the driving system of the device,

FIG. 6 is a side view of another embodiment of the invention, and

FIG. 7 is a view on line VIIVII of FIG. 6.

FIG. 1 represents a printing device for producing prints according to the electrophotographic printing process wherein a printing material, consisting of an insulated support coated with a photoconductive layer, is first charged in the dark by a corona-discharge, is then exposed to an original whereby the electrostatic charge is carried off image-wise, is thereafter guided through a developing apparatus containing an electrically insulating liquid into which electrostatically attractable colour particles are dispersed, and is finally dried whilst the liquid is evaporated.

The device is built in a casing and comprises a feeding unit 11 for the printing material, a charging unit 12 for electrostatically charging the printing material, an exposure unit 13, a developing unit 14 and a drying cabinet 49.

The feeding unit consists of a drum 15 the side 120 thereof being fixed to the shaft 16 (FIG. 4). The shaft 16 is journalled in the bearings 121, 122 and is driven by means of the driving wheel 123.

Through the open other side of the drum 15 a roll of printing material 17 is brought into the drum over the round supports 124, 125 which are solidly mounted on the shaft 16. The diameter of the round supports 124, 125 is smaller than the inside diameter of the core 130 of the roll of printing material. These supports are only intended for guiding and bearing the roll 17 until the shutter 129 in the side wall of the casing of the device closes light-tightly the opening for introducing the roll with printing material. When closing the shutter 129 the roll 17 is concentrically positioned relative to the shaft 16 by means of the bearing elements 126 and 131. The bearing element 126 is shaped as a truncated cone and is slidingly and rotatably fitted on the shaft 16. This element 126 is urged by a pressure spring 128- against the stationary ring 127. The bearing element 131 is identically shaped and is likewise movable on the axle 132 where it is biased by the spring 133. The axle 132 is rotatably journalled in the movable shutter 129 and bears the disk 134-. When the shutter 129 is closed, the bevelled periphery of the disc 134 fits closely against the correspondingly bevelled periphery of the open side of the drum 15, and the cone-shaped element 131 pressed the core 130 of the roll 17 against the bearing element 126. The bearing elements 126 and 131, inasmuch as they are rotatable relatively to shaft 16 against a frictional resistance, also operate as a slip coupling. The rotation of the roll relative to shaft 16 is arrested quickly when a pulling force ceases to be exerted on the free outer end of the rolled material.

The cylindrical part of the drum 15 is provided with a slit 22 which extends over the full length of the drum and which runs parallel to the drum shaft. In this slit the pressure rollers 18 and 19 coated with a resilient material are positioned (FIGS. 2-3). One extremity of each axle of the pressure rollers 18 and 19 is journalled in a small supporting member (not represented) which is provided near the open end portion of the drum, whereas the other extremity of each axle is journalled in the side part 120 of the drum. The extremity of one axle of the rollers has been extended outside the side part 120 of the drum and is provided with the pinion 20 capable of engaging the stationary rack 21.

Outside the drum 15, at a short distance therefrom, a curved guide plate 23 is arranged, the concave side of which is coated with a resilient material 24.

One edge of the slit 22 in the drum 15 is provided with an elevated marginal portion 26 which together with the hinging blade 27, which is urged towards the drum surface by means of a spring 28 (FIG. 1), forms a system for separating sheets from the material contained on the roll. The elevated marginal portion may freely move beneath the pressure rollers 66 and 69 which are mounted alongside the drum periphery and are provided with a resilient material,

.4 When the operator introduces a new roll 17 of printing material into the drum, he enters the leader end of the printing material 25 between the pressure rollers 18, 19 (FIG. 2) so that the material passes outwardly through the slit 22 of the drum '15. Upon rotation of the drum the material is guided between the drum surface and the covering 24 of the guide plate 23 (FIGS. 2 and 3).

The exposure system 13 of the device comprises the light sources 29 and 30, the transparent guide plate 31, the guide plate 31a, the opaque sliding member 32, which can be slid in front of the transparent guide plate 31 by means of the rack 33 and the pinion 34 and which is capable of covering plate 31, the flat mirrors 37 and 38, and the optical element 39.

The electric charging unit 12 for uniformly electrostatically charging the printing material comprises a number of insulated parallel positioned wires 67, connected to one terminal of a high voltage source. The other terminal of this source is connected to the casing of the device and constitutes the so-called zero potential. The potential difference of the voltage source amounts to 7000 v.

The developing unit 14 consists of a container 40 for containing the developing liquid 41, a spray system 42 which is mounted above the tank 43 and extends broadwise relative to the container 40, and a pump system (not shown in the drawings) for pumping the liquid from the container 40 to the spray system 42 so that the liquid is applied in the direction indicated by the arrows 44 on the copying material, while the latter is moving through the tank 43. The liquid in the tank 43 may reach the level indicated by the broken line 45 whereupon it flows through the overflow opening 46 to the liquid supply 41 in the container 40. Finally, a guide member 43a is provided which prevents any possible curl up tendency of the printing material and which guides the printing material between the pair of pressure rollers 47, 48.

This pair of pressure rollers 47, 48 removes the superfiuous liquid from the printing material which leaves the device through the drying cabinet 49 and the outlet opening 50.

FIG. 5 represents the driving mechanism of the device. A motor 51 drives the drum 15 'by means of a first driving belt 52 running over the driving wheel 123 which is situated near ,the side part of the drum. By means of the second driving belt 57 the pressure rollers 53, 54, 55 and 56, the pair of outlet rollers 47, 48 and the conveyor belt 58, which passes through the drying cabinet 49, are driven. In this figure, the path followed by the printing material is shown by the broken line 60 and the path followed by the original is indicated by the broken line 59.

For simplicitys sake the driving belts are shown in FIG. 5 by single lines. In fact, V-shaped driving belts can be used, using the form of driving wheel shown in FIG. 4. However it will be evident to those skilled in the art tha the use of such a belt drive cannot assure strict equality of the peripheral speeds of the different rollers and that a more positive form of drive, e.g., a chain and chain wheels or T-belts and toothed wheels will be preferable.

The device is operated as follows.

When the device is switched on by the operator, the motor 51 starts running until a cam portion 62 on drum 15 abuts against the operating lever of microswitch 61. By lifting this lever the circuit of the motor 51 is interrupted and the driving of the device is stopped. In this position the drum 15 has been turned over with respect to the position shown in FIG. 1. During the displacement of the pinion 20 on the rack 21 the material, in the present embodiment a photoconductive material consisting of a paper support coated with a zinc oxide layer, is pulled from the roll 17 and applied between the covering 24 of the guide plate 23 and the periphery of the drum 15.

Next the operator introduces the original to be copied with the image side thereof facing downwardly into the device through the opening 9. At the moment the leading edge of the original arrives between the pressure rollers 64, 65, the lever 63a of the microswitch 63 being freely movable in two registering grooves on the two rollers, is pushed upwardly. The contact of the microswitch 63 is closed and the motor 51 starts running again. The drum starts to move and drives the pressure rollers 64, 65 and 66. The peripheral speed of these rollers is equal, so that the original and the printing material (which latter is located on the drum 15 and which no longer moves relative to the drum surface as the pinion 20 no longer engages the rack 21) move at equal speeds through the device.

When the printing material passes under the electric charging unit 12, the zinc oxide layer is uniformly charged by the electrical discharge of the corona wires 67 When the leading edge of the printing material on the drum 15 has reached the marginal portion of the exposure channel 68 near the pressure roller 69, then the leading edge of the original has reached the lower edge of the guide plates 31 and 31a located above the pressure rollers 53, 54.

At that moment the exposure of the printing material is started. The original slides behind the transparent plate 31 and at the White image areas of the original the light of the light sources 29 and 30 is reflected and projected by the mirrors 37, 38 and the optical system 39 onto the part of the printing material on the drum situated in the image plane 70. Since both materials advance at equal speeds, a sharp light-image of the original is incident on the printing material. At the exposed image areas the zinc oxide layer becomes conductive and the elastostatic charge is carried oif whereas at the unexposed areas the electrostatic charge is maintained.

Finally, when the elevated rim 26 of the drum 15 passes underneath the blade 27, the printing material on the drum periphery is separated from the remaining material, it is removed by the slanting front portion of the blade 27 from the drum periphery, and it advances between the guide plate 78 towards the developing unit 14. At the areas of the sheet of printing material where the electrostatic charge is still present the electrically attractable colour particles in the developing liquid are attracted, thus producing a visible image. The pressure rollers 47, 48 remove the superfluous developing liquid from the printing material as it leaves the developing unit and the conveyor belt 58 guides the material to the drying cabinet 49. In this cabinet heating means is provided for evaporating the solvent for the colour particles. The finished dry print leaves the device through the opening 50. Meanwhile the driving of the original continues until the material is removed outside the device through the opening 72 by means of the pressure rollers 55, 56.

The adjustment of the desired density on the image of the print is carried out by means of the opaque sliding element 32. This element is capable of covering a greater or a smaller portion of the transparent plate 31 so that the time during which the printing material is exposed to the original is increased or diminished correspondingly.

The pinion 34 engaging the rack 33 can be turned by means of a numbered disc 73 provided at the outside of the device, so that the operator can change the exposure when the density of the produced print is too high or too small.

The driving of the drum 15 is continued until the cam 62 abuts against the lever of the microswitch 61 again. Thereby the movement of the drum is arrested and the device is ready for a further printing cycle.

The second example of embodiment relates to an automatic cutting device for cutting rolled up material into sheets. FIG. 6 shows a diagrammatic side view and FIG. 7 represents in part a view of the device on the line 77 of FIG. 6.

The device comprises the drum 80, which, as the drum 15 in the device of the foregoing embodiment, is attached with one side to a shaft and left open at the other side.

The drum has a slit 81 and is provided with rotatable pressure rollers 82, 83, coated with a resilient material and arranged to pull the material from the roll 84 which in the present case is a paper web with a width of 21 cm. At one extremity the axle of the pressure roller 83 is provided with a pinion 86 which can engage the four curved racks 87, 88, 89 and 90. Each of these racks is composed of two parts 91, 92 which overlap each other side by side over the distance 93. Both parts are mutually displaceable so that the length of the curved rack can be changed.

Around the drum are provided four concentrically arranged guide plates 94, 95, 96 and 97, four pressure rollers 98, 99, 100 and 101 which extend over the drum width and which are urged against the drum periphery by a spring system and four cutting and carrying off systems, each of which consists of a transverse blade 103 pivotally fitted on the axle 104. For sake of simplicity, only one of said systems is provided with reference numerals. The blade 103 has two extended portions 105, 106 which bear the small rollers 107, 108. These rollers run over the periphery of the drum 80 and normally maintain the blade 103 clear from the drum periphery. At the moment an elevated transverse portion 112 of the drum which constitutes a second blade has reached under the front portion of the blade 103, the rollers 107 and 108 run in recesses 109 and 110 of the drum periphery so that the blade 103 is pressed towards the second blade 112 under the influence of the springs 111 and a sheet is thereby separated from the roll 84.

During the ensuing further rotation of the drum 80 the roller 98 firmly presses the cut off material against the drum surface so that this material is not displaced relative to this surface. The separated material slides over the slanting front portion of the blade 103 and is guided filling the guide member 113 to the stack of paper sheets The same operation is repeated when the drum 80 is rotated over 90, 180 and 270. It is clear that contrary to the first described device, four sheets of paper are delivered by the device of the present embodiment at each revolution of the drum. The elevated parts 115 and 116 on the drum periphery adjacent the blade 112 serve to remove the pressure rollers 98, 99, 100 and 101 from the drum surface at the moment the blade 112 passes under said rollers. If the pressure rollers were not lifted up each time, the sharp front portion of said blade would cause excessive wear or damage of the surface of the said rollers.

The length of the delivered sheets can be adjusted by modifying the length of the curved racks 87, 88, 89 and 90, which is done in the present device, as mentioned herembefore, by shifting one part of the rack with respect to the other part. According to a modified embodiment four corresponding racks can be provided for each size of sheets, the racks being interchangeable as required.

In the present device four sheets are delivered at one revolution. It is clear that by providing a greater or a smaller number of racks the number of sheets to be delivered can be changed correspondingly.

Both foregoing examples of embodiment are not restrictive neither for the constructions, nor for the applications of the device of the present invention.

The device according to the present invention is appropriate for use in association with apparatus for the preparation of prints according to the silver halide diffusion transfer process, the chemico-thermographic process or the electro-thermographic process, e.g., as a container for a supply roll of transfer paper in a device in which the image of the original is first formed on a selenium drum, etc.

The exposure of the original can also be done by contact instead of by a projection. In case the contact between the original and a negative photographic material occurs on the drum periphery, it might be interesting to make the drum out of a transparent material and to provide an exposing source, e.g., in the form of a curved luminescent plate at the inner side of the drum, so that a compact device can be realized.

The device can further be applied for obtaining sheets by cutting rolls of synthetic webs, e.g., polyethylene, thin metal webs, and webs of laminated structure such as webs composed of a paper and an aluminium layer. The invention can be applied for cutting web-like materials into sheets for a variety of purposes, e.g., for use in packaging.

The drum 15, respectively 80, can favourably be replaced by a drum segment or, in general, by a curved surface which is appropriate for supporting the part of the web pulled off from the roll by the pressure rollers prior to cutting off.

When the pulled off part of the web need not follow a reproducible path prior to cutting off (such as it has to do in apparatus according to the first illustrated embodiment) the supporting surface behind the pair of pressure rollers may even be omitted.

When using a drum such as drum 15 or 80, the drum need not be fixed to its mounting shaft; the drum can instead be rotatably mounted on a fixed shaft, the driving of the drum being performed by a belt, chain or other drive connection direct to a part integral with the drum.

What we claim is:

1. In a photographic copying apparatus in which a length of a web of copying material is drawn from a roll, lmagewise exposed to the original to be copied, and severed from the web, the improvement comprising means for supporting said web roll for rotation about its axis, feed rollers arranged in parallel adjacent relationship to said roll for positively feeding the web from said roll, the free end of said web being threaded into said feed roll, means supporting said feed rollers for rotation about their axes and for independent bodily translation about the roll axis, means for bodily translating said feed rollers, means operative during the bodily translation of said feed rollers to rotate said rollers about their own axes to feed said web length from said roll, support means generally adjacent the web roll periphery to receive the web length fed by said feed rollers, means for delivering the web length received by said support means for exposure to the original to be fed, and web severing means for separating the web length thus fed from the remainder of the we 2. The copying apparatus of claim 1 wherein said feed rollers are translated through a predetermined arc to feed a predetemined web length and said severing means are operative after said rollers have passed through said are.

3. The copying apparatus of claim 1 including means for delivering said original along a predetermined path at a predetermined linear rate of travel, said web length delivery means being operative to move the web length along a predetermined path at a linear rate of travel in substantial synchronism with the rate of travel of said original, and exposure means for exposing said web length to said original while the length and original are moving along said paths in substantial synchronism.

4. The copying apparatus of claim 3 wherein said original and said web length are moved along different paths and said exposure means includes means for projecting an image of said moving original onto said moving length.

5. The copying apparatus of claim 4 including means for adjusting the period of time said image is projected onto said moving length.

6. The copying apparatus of claim 5 wherein said exposure means includes an aperture through which said original is passed during exposure and the length of said aperture is adjustable to vary the time of exposure.

7. The copying apparatus of claim 3 wherein said web length support means receives said length in generally flat condition and is mounted for movement with the web length thereon and said web length delivery means moves said web length support means with the web length thereon.

8. The copying apparatus of claim 1 wherein said web length support means includes an arcuate supporting surface of a width at least generally equal the web width extending around at least a portion of the web roll periphery in co-axial relation thereto, said surface having one of its edges disposed in close proximity to said feed rollers and being mounted for movement about its axis bodily with said feed rollers, whereby said surface receives and supports the web length fed by said feed rollers.

9. The copying apparatus as in claim 8 wherein said arcuate surface is rotatable in a circular path about said roll axis; said'feed roller rotating means being operative to feed said web length onto said surface during translation of said rollers through only a portion of said circular path, said web severing means is stationed along said path subsequent to said portion, and means are provided on said surface for actuating said severing means after said feed rollers have moved past the station of the web severing means.

10. The copying apparatus of claim 9 including means for exposing said web length to an image of said original while said length is moving through a portion of said path subsequent to said first-mentioned portion.

11. The copying apparatus of claim 10 including means for electrostatically charging said web length at a locus on said circular path intermediate said first-mentioned and subsequent path portions.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 439,121 10/1890 Orane -17 2,047,478 7/1936 Lloyd 95'l 2,388,423 11/ 1945 Langdon 271-25 3,115,814 12/1963 Kaprelian 951.7 3,286,588 11/1966 Wick 95--1.7 X 3,303,763 2/1967 Kent 95-1.7

JOHN M. HORAN, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 95-l7; 271-25 

